Cinquains and such

Uneventful Mondays are something for which I am thankful. Being able to complete regular tasks, like laundry, dishes, and school, really is a blessing. Nobody is sick, there aren’t any big projects competing for my time, the weather is beautiful, and life is good. Craig did get to go hunting this past weekend, but only for Saturday, and didn’t get anything. That was a real disappointment for him, but I think just the fact that he got the plant up and running again was a relief, with or without a deer. He did get to bring one home, but it was someone else’s kill. They have invited him back in January, so maybe he’ll have a better turnout then. Apparently, there are some big bucks on that property, they just didn’t happen to be hanging out at his blind on Saturday.

The kids and I attended (and helped with) a wedding on Saturday, then drove home late and tired. It was a nice wedding, though, and everything went smoothly, which is always nice. Now, I’m counting on this week to be a nice, slow one. We’ll see how long that holds, but it helps to plan it that way, I guess.

My friend, Karen, scored a new game for me the other day, called Huggermugger. (?!? Right?) A huggermugger, by definition (and it’s really in the dictionary – we looked), is something done in secret, and the object of the game is to reveal a hidden word, letter-by-letter, by answering questions from four different English language categories, which include word scramble, spelling, definitions, and miscellaneous. Of course, that is JUST my kind of game… not Honey’s. He called it an “English teacher’s game” that “of course I (Christy) would win!” (exclamation included) Okay, yes, if I always got spelling questions, I would do pretty well, but he was overjoyed and actually fell out of bed (threw himself, really) when I misspelled a word. Maraud – not even a hard one! I guess he’s never heard me do that before, lol! I think that made the whole game worth it for him. It was actually really fun, though, and he did just as well as I did. I won, yes, but some of it is just chance. It will definitely be a good game for the boys, at some point, and Jake is already begging to play.

Today, the boys and I learned about Cinquains: five-line poems. The younger boys did word-count cinquains, in which they had to have a pattern of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 1 word on each line. Here are theirs.

Luke: Tiger Shark

Shark
Sharp teeth
Fast as lightning
Tiger of the ocean
Scary

Levi: Cheetah Cub

Kitten
Sharp Teeth
Learns to hunt
Wild cat, scary hunter
Cute

Jake had to do a syllable-count cinquain, with a pattern of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 2 syllables on the lines.

Jake: Puppy

Puppy.
Sweet, lovable
Furry, soft-eyed, playmate
Whimpering, yipping, crying out
Angel

I couldn’t resist joining in and writing my own, so I figured it was only fair for me to do the harder of the two and count syllables. Writing poetry says a lot about what’s in your heart and mind.

Christy: Cupcake

Small treat
Smells heavenly
First bite anticipation
Chocolate hiding in the middle
Perfect

For those who were actually counting syllables (I know you were!), I counted chocolate as two, because that’s how we say it. I’m sure glad I get to make some cupcakes this week for a birthday party. Obviously, I’ve been craving them! Hmmm… I think I’ll plan some dessert for tonight. It won’t be cupcakes - probably something healthy with fruit, xylitol instead of sugar, and wheat flour instead of white, but still yummy. Who says a dessert can’t be good for you and your dental health and STILL taste good?